Separated
by Shimmerbreeze
Summary: When Maka's parents get divorced, they both decide that the best plan for Maka is to go live with her grandparents in Karakura Town, Japan. Little do they know they've thrown her into all new problems, on top of all new problems to come in Death City.
1. New Home

_***Separated***_

 _ **Mmmm… Don't have much of an explanation for this one, but anyway, here we go! Yay for crossovers. Tehee. By the way, I will probably be making two different versions of this, one crossover and one non crossover.**_

 _ ***S***_

" _I know I miss you, but its okay. I don't get depressed when I'm lonely."_

 _ **The Distance That Took You Away by Say We Can Fly**_

 _ ***S***_

 **Chapter One: New Home**

Separated. That's how my mama and papa described their divorce to me. "It's just a separation," they would say. But who were they kidding? I'm not a child who doesn't understand what's going on. I knew that they had their problems, mostly stemming from Papa's womanizing ways, and I also knew they would not be getting back together after they figured everything out. I didn't expect Mama to get full custody and take me away from Death City though.

Separated. That's what I was. Separated from the only place I knew. Separated from my weapon partner, Soul. Separated from Black*Star and Tsubaki. I should be starting my senior year at DWMA, instead… I'm in Japan, with my grandparents. Where my mom dumped me about a month ago. Summer would be ending soon, and I would start a new school here, a normal school. I sighed from my spot at my desk and pushed back, my chair rolling easily across the hardwood floors of my room.

My name is Maka Albarn, I'm 17 years old and have ash blonde hair and wide green eyes. I'm a Scythe Meister. My weapon partner is Soul "Eater" Evans. I should be in Death City, Nevada, but instead I'm in Karakura Town, in Japan. As I said before, I've been here for a month, living with my grandparents, struggling to learn Japanese enough to get by. They were horribly traditional people and I don't know how my mom was able to stand growing up here, no offense to them or my mom. I walked downstairs in my socks and grabbed my long coat from beside the door. Thankfully they hadn't made me stop wearing my favorite outfit. Though I'd had to trade in my boots for dressier looking shoes. (My old ones were hidden in my closet.) My first day of school at Karakura High started tomorrow. Here I would only be Junior, if that's even how they count classes.

It was unfair of my mom really to take me away from everything I'd ever known. And away from my weapon partner too! She could have at least let me drag Soul with me. Death only knows what trouble he was getting into without me there to keep him straight. I sighed as I finished pulling on my shoes. I stood up straight and used my Soul Perception to see if my grandparents were home. They usually weren't and today was no different. I stepped out of the house and closed the door behind me. There was a lot of yelling from next door, and I cocked my head as a boy with bright orange hair came running out of the house. All I knew about the neighbors were that they owned a small clinic. And they made a lot of noise. The boy slammed his door and shook his head, before turning to smile regretfully at me.

"Gomenesai," he said. "Pardon all the noise, I think my family is crazy (Translate to Japanese.)" I blinked and blushed slightly, only catching the word for sorry,

"I… I don't really speak fluent Japanese," I said quietly walking over to the boy. His soul… Was huge, and strange, it was unlike any human soul I'd ever seen. He radiated power.

"Oh…" The boy said switching to English. "My bad, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, and I said Sorry, pardon the noise. I think my family is crazy."

"I'm Maka Albarn," I said extending a hand for the boy to shake.

"New to the country?" Ichigo asked, "I don't think I've ever seen anyone with the Isaka's. Didn't even know they had relatives." He smiled slightly.

"Yeah, they're my grandparents," I said. "My mom moved away when she was young and attended school in Nevada, it's where she met my dad. But they recently got a divorce and mom got custody and dumped me here to fend for myself while she travels the world." It was a struggle to keep the bitterness from my voice, and one that I obviously didn't win.

"Ouch," Ichigo said frowning. He looked down the street to where a group of people were walking towards us, I watched as he grimaced slightly. I grinned and took the time to check out their souls. Most of them were normal. Though a few were almost just as strange as his was, one of them being exactly like it. I would have to ring Lord Death later and ask him what that was all about.

"Ichigo!" One of the boys with a normal soul broke off from the group and raced for the boy next to me. Without even blinking Ichigo lifted a leg and the other boy ran right into it. I felt my eyes widen and I briefly wondered if that would work with Black*Star.

"Hey everyone," Ichigo said. "This is Maka, she doesn't speak Japanese, so we should speak English and make her feel welcome." I blushed after he finished speaking and smiled shyly at the group of people my age. "Maka, this is Mizurio, Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad and Rukia. This creature on the ground is Keigo, but I wouldn't willingly make you associate with him."

"Hi everyone," I said smiling brightly and waving. I missed the look that Rukia gave me through narrowed eyes and checked the time on my phone. I needed to get to the post office so I can see if anyone sent me letters. Or finally shipped Blaire. Oh don't give me that look. They have special crates for shipping animals. Besides, it took me almost a month to convince my grandma and grandpa to let me get the Neko.

"Hi Maka, please to meet you," they all replied. Keigo gave a groan and I couldn't help but smile. They reminded me of my friends.

"Um," I said shifting my foot. "Would any of you know how to get to the um… post office?" I asked, unsure of what they would call it.

"I do!" Orihime said waving her hand. She was beautiful and I was immediately jealous of the very obvious assets she had.

"Would you mind showing me?" I asked. "I have some things that should have come in from home that I need to pick up." The orange haired girl nodded. She grabbed my hand and started to drag me in the opposite direction and I looked back to see Ichigo and Tatsuki waving.

"Don't get into trouble!" I heard them call. This time I caught the look Rukia gave me and it puzzled me. I hadn't met the girl before, why was she looking at me like I'd killed someone she knew. Unless of course I had…

"So Maka, what are you doing here in Japan?" Orihime asked me, finally letting go of my arm.

"Well, my mom dropped me off to live with my grandparents and she went off to travel the world with a friend," I said, messing with my tie. It was almost true, mom had gone to see the world, but it was with her new partner, Ryo.

"Oh, wow," Orihime said. "Will you be going to school here? Where did you live before? What about your dad, you didn't mention him before." Orihime seemed to be one of those people who was friendly, if only slightly airheaded.

"Um, yes, I will be going to school here. I'll be a junior. I lived in Nevada, in the United States. My dad is back home. He and my mom got a divorce." I said answering her questions in order.

"Oh cool, what was life like back in Nevada?" She asked me next, turning right when we reached a corner. "Oh, and I'm sorry about your parents," she added after a moment.

"It's alright," I said with a shrug. "Life in Nevada was… fun. I suppose you would have found it different." Most people would have found it different, growing up in Death City. "I lived with my friend Soul for a while, until mom decided to move me here. I would have been in my senior year back home."

"You sound homesick," the orange haired teen said quietly.

"Yeah, I suppose I am," I said shaking my head, my pigtails following the motion.

"Your friend, Soul, was it? What is she like?" Orihime asked me.

"Ah, Soul is a boy," I sad laughing. I was totally telling him about this later. "But he's awesome. Though he does slack off a lot and is always worried about being cool. Plus after we got Blaire I was always having to yell at him. But in the end... I guess, he is the best partner I could have asked for." I said gazing off into the sky, I felt the smile tug my lips up. From the corner of my eye, I saw Orihime cock her head slightly and then look straight. She didn't ask any more questions and led the way to the post office in silence.

"I'll go in with you," She said when we reached it. "I don't know if anyone in here speaks English." I nodded and thanked her before walking up to the counter.

In the end, Orihime wasn't needed, and the woman at the counter more than happily handed me several letters and a large crate that had "live animal" plastered on the side. I clapped happily when I saw it and handed Orihime the letters and opened the crate. The purple cat launched herself out of the crate and into my arms, purring loudly. I'm sure I would hear all about the injustice of stuffing her into a crate later, but for now she was content to be pet.

"What a pretty cat!" Orihime gushed. I smiled and held Blaire up for her to see.

"Orihime, this is Blaire! Mine and Soul's cat. It took a lot of convincing for my grandparents to let me have her here," I said scratching behind Blaire's ear.

"I've never seen a purple cat before," the girl in front of me murmured.

"Ha-ha," I laughed nervously. "We hadn't either, but its natural fur." I shrugged. No sense in telling her that Blaire was a Neko.

"Merow," Blaire said looking up at me. I smiled down at her and scratched behind her ear again before setting her carefully on my head. I held a hand out for the letters in Orihime's hand and she handed them over right away. I glanced at them as we exited the post office and saw that there were five, one from Soul, Tsubaki, Black*Star, and my dad. The fifth was from the Death Scythe in charge of Japan, or at least I think it was, it had been a while since we'd covered what Death Scythe held power where. Orihime led us to an older looking shop, the sign above the door read "Urahara Shoten".

"Hello," Orihime called out opening the door. Two heads peaked around the corner, a boy and a girl, one with bright red hair and the other pitch black.

"They're all back here," the girl said quietly.

"Who's the chick with the cat?" The boy asked eyeing me. I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes, I didn't like his tone one bit.

"This Maka!" Orihime said leading me towards the two. "Maka this is Jinta and Ururu. They work for Mr. Urahara."

"Nice to meet you," Ururu and I said at the same time. The girl blushed and I giggled.

"And this is Blair," I said feeling the cat's claws sink into my scalp a little bit. Orihime led us to a back room where everyone was sitting around a round table. Added to the group was an older man in a green robe and green and white striped hat. He looked up at us lazily as we entered.

"This must be Miss Maka," he said smiling slowly.

"That's right," I said taking Blair off of my head. "I'm Maka Albarn, pleasure to meet you." At least I still had manners. The others had moved a bit to make room for us and I sat down next to Orihime and Chad. Looking around I noticed that Mizurio, Keigo, and Tatsuki were gone.

"What an interesting… cat," Rukia said from her spot next to Ichigo.

"Oh, this is Blair, I had her shipped from home poor thing," I said setting the purple cat in my lap.

"Don't let Yoruichi find her," Rukia said quietly, I noticed she was still giving me guarded looks, trying to figure me out maybe? Could she see souls too? I blinked a few times but didn't back down from her gaze. I was a Scythe Meister and could handle the petite girl if that's what she wanted.

"Anyway…" the green man, as I newly dubbed him, said regaining attention. "I am Urahara Kisuke. If you ever need any help, don't hesitate to find me and ask me."

"Thank you sir," I said gratefully. It was always a good thing to have allies, no matter how… strange they seemed. Slowly I was able to relax among the people in the room and soon everyone was laughing and joking around. I was almost sad when Urahara shooed us out of his shop.

"See you guys tomorrow at school," Ichigo said as we parted from the others at a corner. We walked in silence, Rukia had said goodbye to Orihime and had caught up with us as well. I could feel the letters from my friends inside my jacket pocket and I couldn't wait to get home and read them. All too soon, we reached our street.

"We'll wait for you in the morning," Ichigo said to me as I left him and Rukia in front of his family's clinic.

"Thank you!" I said smiling. I hurried home and opened the door quietly. "I'm home," I called out, not sure if my grandparents were home or not.

"We were beginning to worry," my grandma stuck her head around the corner. She zeroed her gaze on Blair and frowned. "Is that the cat?" She asked.

"Yes grandma, this is Blair," I said holding Blair out for her to see.

"Hmmm," she hummed quietly. "Just keep it in your room, alright?" She said to me. "And don't forget to take your shoes off." I put Blair down for a moment and sipped my shoes off before picking her back up.

"Thank you again Grandma," I said kissing her cheek before running up the stairs to my room. I hardly had my door shut before Blair leaped out of my arms and changed into a human.

"Maka!" She cried happily. She hugged me tightly and I returned the hug briefly.

"Shhh," I said laughing slightly. "How was the trip over here?" I asked.

"Horrible, I got airsick and they wouldn't open the crate no matter how much I meowed," Blair said pouting. She sat down on my bed and looked around. "Your room is pretty bare," she commented.

"Yeah I know," I said with a sigh. Personally I'd been hoping my mom would come back and get me, but as each day passed I realized how futile that hope was. "I need to put up my pictures and stuff."

"I can do it for you while you're at school tomorrow," Blair offered.

"That would be nice, just make sure my grandparents are gone before you do anything, I can't have them walking in to my room and finding you as a human," I said. "They'd freak out and probably call the cops." I'd never had to deal with cops before, one perk of being a DWMA Student, special privileges.

"You might be right," Blair said. "Oh! Before I forget, Soul got in a fight."

"He what!" I screeched loudly, I clapped my hand over my mouth and Blair turned back into a cat quickly. I pulled out one of my letters just as I heard footsteps on the stairs. When my grandma opened the door, my grandpa hovering over her shoulder, I waved the letter.

"Are you alright?" They asked.

"I'm fine, I promise," I said smiling. "Just something one of my friends back home did." I chuckled nervously as Blair yawned and curled up on one of my pillows.

"If you're sure," my grandma said starting to shut the door.

"Try to keep it down, we do have neighbors," my grandpa added.

"I will, thank you for checking on me," I said as they shut my door. They were weird about that sort of stuff, so it was always better to thank them just in case.

"Wow that was close," Blair said. She stayed in cat form but jumped over to my desk and sat down in front of me.

"Who did he get in a fight with?" I asked her.

"He and Black*Star decided to challenge Lord Death's son, he goes to the DWMA now," Blair said licking a paw. "They were totally getting their butts kicked, from what I understood, Tsubaki told me to tell you of course."

"That idiot," I muttered. Leave it to Soul to get into trouble when I wasn't there to help him.

"He's okay though," Blair added. She batted the letter in my hand, it was Soul's. "I doubt he'll say anything about it in here. Tsbuaki's might." I sighed and took out the rest of the letters and placed them one on top of another. I decided to save my friend's letters for tomorrow and opened the letter from the unknown person first.

 _Dear Miss Albarn,_

 _I'm sorry if you don't recognize the name, but I am the Death Scythe in charge of Asia. Please forgive me being unable to greet you in person. I do not know if Lord Death has told you, but the DWMA has no hold over Japan. Evil souls hardly show up there, the ones that do have already passed on. It is my understanding that you can see souls, perhaps we can get together one day and work together to try and find some of these souls, just to see if the rumor is true. Just send a return letter to the address on the envelope and I'll work something out. It's a very busy continent you know._

 _Hope to hear from you,_

 _Hiro Higurashi_

I put the letter down and tapped my chin. No, I thought Lord Death hadn't told me that the DWMA had no hold on Japan. I just assumed that Kishin Eggs were taken care of just like they were elsewhere. I personally had never had a mission in Japan… Come to think of it, I don't even think Tsubaki had, and she was from Japan. I'd have to ask her. I sighed and rubbed my eyes. It was time for bed. I'd write Hiro tomorrow and tell him my answer. Though, it did sound interesting, it would be weird to work with someone that wasn't Soul.

I got ready for bed and had just pulled my covers over my head when I remembered that I hadn't called Lord Death to ask about Ichigo and Rukia's strange souls. I sighed but didn't get up. I could do that in the morning as well. Blair curled up next to me and the last thing I heard before drifting off to sleep was her purring.

 _ ***S***_

 _ **Sooo, what did you think? I quite like it. I'm very proud of myself. Hopefully the rest of this can turn out just as good. Anyway, let me know what you think by leaving a comment or pop me a PM. As always until next time,**_

 _ **Shimmerz**_


	2. School and Hiro

_***Separated***_

 _ **Annnnd shocker! There's actually a chapter 2! I want to thank everyone for their kind words on the first chapter and hope you continue to enjoy this!**_

 _ ***S***_

 _Being a new character is like going to a new school. You have to try to maintain your autonomy and your own personality._

 _ **~Mia Maestro**_

 _ ***S***_

 **Chapter 2: School and Hiro**

I stared at the ceiling for as long as I could the next morning, idly stroking the top of Blair's head while she lay curled up asleep next to me. Eventually I knew I would have to get up and get ready for school. I sighed and gently moved Blair so I could get ready. The cat blinked and sat up yawning.

"Morning Maka," she said sleepily.

"Good morning Blair," I said smiling over at her as I got dressed in my uniform. All in all, it wasn't too much different than the uniform I wore back home. The neck tie, bow thing however was different and I wondered if I could just do without it. I stuffed it in my school bag and decided that I'd put it on if something was said.

"What can I do while you're at school?" Blair asked blinking at me innocently.

"Well, my grandparents won't be here, so you can lounge around in your human form if you'd like," I said pulling my socks on. I grabbed my bag and smiled regretfully at her. "I'm sorry I have to go so early."

"It's okay Maka!" Blair said. "I'll just go walk around town if I get bored."

"Okay," I chuckled. "Just stay out of trouble okay?" She nodded, but you never know with Blair. I skipped down the stairs and called goodbye to my grandparents as I slipped my shoes on. I slipped out of the door and spotted Ichigo and Rukia waiting for me in front of his house. There were two younger girls standing with them.

"Good morning Maka," Ichigo said politely. Rukia muttered a quick good morning and turned her attention to the phone in her hands.

"Morning Ichigo, Rukia," I said eyeing the girls behind them.

"Oh," Ichigo said. "These are my sisters Karin and Yuzu. They're twins, even if they don't look it." He pointed to the dark haired one first and then the lighter haired girl.

"Hi," the one he pointed out as Yuzu said brightly.

"Hi," her twin said looking slightly bored.

"Hi, I'm Maka," I said waving at them slightly.

"Come on, we need to get going, I don't like being late," Ichigo said. We parted ways with Karin and Yuzu, who were both in middle school, at the corner and met up with the rest of Ichigo's friends at the next corner. I found myself laughing at their antics and smiled slightly, they reminded me of my own friends back home. Suddenly my chest started aching… I missed them all… Every last one of them. Even Black*Star, strange as that may be.

"Come on Maka," Orihime said. I hadn't realized that I'd stopped until she said something.

"Sorry," I muttered catching up with her at the back of the group. We had entered school grounds and were approaching the main doors. "I was just thinking about everyone back home."

"Did you read the letters?" She asked me as she led me to our classroom.

"Um, no actually," I said shaking my head. I rested my hand over my bag. "They're in here actually. I was going to read them when I got the chance."

"Hope you plan on waiting until lunch then," Ichigo said as we walked into the classroom. "Not sure about your old school, but we work through everything. If we finish our things for one subject we just go onto the next."

"Like science and history and stuff… Right?" Maka asked. Sure they taught Math and science at the DWMA, it just wasn't studied in depth like at other schools… After all, most people were only there to fight. Heck, the only history I'd actually been taught in school was the history of weapons and meisters. My mom made sure to teach me everything that I was missing at home. Hopefully I wouldn't be too behind.

"Yeah," Ichigo gave me a strange look and then looked at Rukia who gave a barely perceptible shrug. "And literature, math, some of us take English classes. Electives are cool too. We also have gym last period of the day." I blinked a few times. It finally hit me though. I was attending a real school. Like… a normal school. I felt somewhat excited, but I was also miserable.

"Gym sounds fun," I said. So it did. In order to stay in shape, the DWMA had the giant staircase in front of the school. Here I would have to find some other way of doing so. Tatsuki shot me a grin but before she could say anything, the teacher walked in.

"Alright everyone, take your seats," She said surveying the class. Her eyes caught onto me and she smiled. "Right, everyone we have a transfer student. Please come tell us a little bit about yourself." I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders.

"Hi everyone, my name is Maka Albarn. I'm from Nevada in the United States, um…" I said looking at the teacher uncertainly.

"What was your old school like Maka?" She asked. I laughed and realized she was being serious.

"It was… different… I guess you could say I was mostly homeschooled," I said scratching the back of my head.

"You can take the empty seat next to Mr. Ishida," she said waving me towards the dark-haired boy. I hurried to my seat and was glad to find myself at a window. I sighed quietly as the first lesson of the day started.

 _ ***S***_

Lunch couldn't have come sooner for me. I followed everyone up to the roof and sat down at the edge of their group with my lunch. I wanted to focus on my letters instead of food or awkward questions at the moment. I took my four letters out and smiled, I opened my dad's first, ready to get it out of the way.

 _Dear Maka,_

 _Papa misses you so much! If you need anything please don't hesitate to ask. I tried to get Lord Death to assign me closer to you but he wouldn't budge… Being the only Death Scythe that's a scythe I have to stay here. Well… I guess that's it then. Hmmm… I feel like I forgot something… Oh well. I love you Maka! Don't forget about me!_

 _Love,_

 _Papa_

I rolled my eyes and carefully folded the letter up before putting it back in my bag. Leave it to Papa to make things weird by asking Lord Death for a reassignment. I shook my head and unfolded Black*Star's letter. I stared at it for several minutes before realizing… It was just his signature.

"That idiot," I muttered crumbling the piece of paper up. I set it to the side and looked up to see everyone's eyes on me. "Oh, sorry." I laughed. "Just a friend of mine back home… He has a god complex and thinks everyone needs his signature."

"Sounds like someone I know," Rukia said looking sideways at Keigo. The brown haired boy was clueless and continued to talk to poor Mizurio. I laughed again and grabbed my letter from Tsubaki.

 _Dear Maka,_

 _I miss you so much! It sucked being the only girl left in our group for a while. I'm sure Blair already told you, but Soul and Black*Star got in a fight with Lord Death's son the other day. They tried to be a weapon and meister pair… But as you can imagine it didn't turn out very well. All in all, they were fine afterwards. I think Soul had a little bit of hurt pride, but you know Black*Star, nothing gets him down._

 _I think you'd like Lord Death's son, his name is Kid. Well, Death the Kid. He's a tad strange, but he's very nice and his weapon partners are pretty cool. Patty and Liz Thompson. They're twin pistols. Liz is the older sister and Patty is younger. I think you'd like them too. Maybe we can take a field trip. I'll have to ask Professor Stein._

 _OH MY GOSH! That's right. You weren't here… Sid died. It was dubbed as the "Statue to the Forehead" incident. No one knows what really happened though. Then he was zombiefied by Professor Stein who is our new teacher. He's… Pretty strange. Apparently he was your dad's first partner. He's really good._

 _I wish you were still here Maka. I miss my best friend. Write soon okay? Let me know how school is going for you. And don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on Soul._

 _From,_

 _Tsubaki_

At the bottom of Tsubaki's letter, there was a crayon drawing of a giraffe and beside it there was a sloppy note written.

"To Maka from Patty," I read the words out loud and laughed. It made me wonder just how old Patty was. But I guess it was nice that she decided to say hi… Sort of. The others shook their heads and ignored me for the most part. I guess they realized that I was in my own world. I grabbed Soul's letter next. I noticed it was heavier than the others and frowned slightly. I opened the envelope and tipped it upside down. Along with the letter, a necklace with a Lord Death mask pendant on it fell out. The symbol of the DWMA. I picked it up and cocked my head. It confused me as to why he sent this. I opened the letter with one hand and held the necklace with the other.

 _Maka,_

 _Your idiot dad forgot to send this to you. Lord Death said you would need it if you wanted to get in with the Death Scythe that reigns over Asia. He knew you didn't have anything and apparently that is somehow official… I think it has Lord Death's signature on the back or something. I wasn't really paying attention._

 _Don't let Tsubaki worry you. The fight with Kid was easy as pie. Though I wish my meister had been there. I can't do anything without you. I have to take remedial lessons to make up for the missions I can't go on. Remedial lessons with Stein Maka. The man is insan-_

 _Miss Albarn,_

 _Can you please tell your friends to write letters to you outside my class? Next time they won't get off so easy._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Professor Franken Stein_

 _Oh, and Soul_

I frowned at the letter and sighed. So much had already changed in the short amount of time that I'd been gone. I fastened the necklace around my neck and tucked it down my shirt. I saw Ichigo and Rukia eyeing where I'd just hidden it and wondered if they had seen it. I shrugged it off. Even if they had, it wasn't like the DWMA was some super-secret. Most people knew about it, even if they had just heard rumors.

"Everything okay back home?" Orihime asked politely. I went to nod then stopped.

"One of my old teachers died and my friends got in a fight with the son of the headmaster at my old school," I said.

"Ouch," Ichigo muttered.

"That's awful!" Orihime gasped. "Did they get punished? How did the teacher die?"

"Um… Not that I know of and I don't know," yeah… cause telling them he took a statue to the forehead would go over so great.

"What was with the necklace?" Rukia asked. "You don't particularly look like the kind of girl who would like skulls."

"You know boys," I said laughing. "They always pick something they like out and think that we'll like it too." I chuckled nervously.

"Boys? What boy? You have to tell us about him!" The other girls surrounded me and I was grateful when the bell rang for us to go back to class. Now I just had to make it to gym class.

 _ ***S***_

After changing into my gym clothes, I followed Tatsuki, Rukia, and Orihime out to the track. I stretched my arms above my head and smiled. This… I could do this. Each year at the DWMA we had physicals that included several physical sports that we had to maintain and improve on throughout the year. It was part of being who we were. The NOT class was lenient, they wouldn't be in combat, so they weren't expected to be able to do much, but the EAT class was expected to be at the peak of physical health. After all, a sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body. Looking over at Tatsuki and Rukia, I deemed that both of them would be in great health, and probably be the most competition I would have here.

"Line up!" The teacher yelled walking over to us. The class had split into girls and boys when we'd entered the gym. That was another thing that was new. I was used to having the boys mingling around making rude jokes. It was strange… To not have to yell at Black*Star and Soul. I couldn't decide yet if I like that. "Girls, you'll be running the track today." He glanced over at me. "Miss Albarn, you don't have to participate if you don't want to."

"Oh please! I want to!" I said a little bit louder than I anticipated. I blushed slightly when people around me snickered.

"Alright," the teacher gave me a skeptical look and eyed me then looked at Tatsuki. He waved us over to the track and grouped us up in groups of four. And I guess luck would have it that I was paired with Rukia, Tatsuki, and Orihime. I glanced to the side where the boys were standing. I saw Ichigo shake his head at something the boy they'd introduced to me as Uryu said. "Get set," the teacher called raising a hand the held a stopwatch in it. "Go!"

I wasted no time, sprinting forward. I was shorter than Tatsuki and Orihime, but the latter had a bit more baggage to slow her down. Rukia and I seemed to be about the same height, but the dark haired girl fell back early on, leaving Tatsuki and I. I gritted my teeth in determination. I was a meister, I fought evil souls on an almost daily basis. I had to run up almost 100 flight of stairs to get to school. I could beat her. I imagined the familiar weight of Soul in my hands and closed my eyes. Getting distracted would cause me to lose focus and slow down. I opened my eyes and pulled up once we passed the specified end point. Tatsuki was fast, coming in mere seconds behind me, but… I have been attending the DWMA for a while.

"Man," Tatsuki groaned breathlessly. "You were running like there was a fire behind you or something." She grinned at me and straightened up. "I haven't been beat in forever. Good job."

"You too," I said smiling back. "You proved to be more challenging than I thought." I chuckled. What had surprised me however, was that Rukia had dropped back so early. I figured she would have been right there with us. I was used to seeing people with her build and muscle at the DWMA, the run should have been easy for her. I puzzled over this for the rest of the class period while keeping an eye on the boys when they ran. I wasn't shocked to see Ichigo come out in first, with Chad right behind him. For a big boy, he sure was fast.

"Good run Maka," Ichigo said after we had changed and were heading home. It was just him, Rukia, and myself.

"Thanks," I mumbled as we turned the corner to our street. Standing in front of my house was an older man with shaggy looking black hair. In his arms was Blair. Oh Death… I hope she hadn't gotten in trouble.

"Isn't that your cat?" Rukia asked narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Yeah, but I don't own the man," I said narrowing my own eyes. I activated my Soul Perception, and relaxed slightly. His soul was normal, and it wasn't giving off any angry vibes. So Blair was off the hook for now. The man looked up as we approached Ichigo's house. His eyes skimmed over them and landed on me.

"Maka Albarn?" He said walking over to us. Blair jumped out of her arms and ran towards me. I bent down to pick her up and she purred slightly.

"That's me," I said nodding slightly.

"Hiro Higurashi," he said sticking his hand out. I shook hands and smiled widely, this was the Death Scythe who presided over Asia then. He looked like he had just woken up. "Sorry that I just showed up unannounced. But I had an opening and couldn't resist coming to meet the daughter of Spirit and Kami Albarn." He looked over at Ichigo who were fidgeting awkwardly.

"Ah, Mr. Higurashi, this is Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki. Ichigo lives here, they go to my school," I said. "Maybe we should head over my house to talk." I suggested. "My grandparents aren't home until later."

"Hmmm," Hiro surveyed Rukia and nodded. "Perhaps you are right Miss Albarn. It was a pleasure to meet your friends," his tone suggested to me that it was anything but.

"I'll see you guys in the morning," I said quietly. This whole situation puzzled me, and after glancing over my shoulder, I could see Rukia on her phone. I led Hiro to my front door and unlocked the door quickly, hurrying inside.

"I do apologize about my behavior," Hiro said as we took our shoes off and I set my school things aside. Blair jumped down and turned human, Hiro didn't even blink. Then again, in our line of work, there were things that were a whole lot more strange than a cat who can turn human.

"Oh Maka," she said turning to me. "I chased off a black cat that was snooping around your open window." I sighed. Great… I would have to figure something else out for Blair.

"Thanks Blair," I said with a sigh. I was suddenly tired. "I'm going to go change, I'll be right back." I said to them both as I took off up the stairs. I locked my door and noticed that Blair had shut my window, so I pulled the curtains shut and changed quickly into my old clothes, even digging my boots out from the back of my closet. I carried them down in one hand and touched the skull pendant with my other. The look Rukia had given me earlier… It was almost as if she knew what this pendant implied… But that was almost impossible. "I'm back." I announced, setting my boots down in the doorway.

"Good," Hiro said smiling slightly. "Lord Death contacted me as soon as he found out you would be in Japan and that there was no getting you out of it. Usually we try to get weapons and meisters out of here as quickly as possible. The er… other forces at work here don't like it when the DWMA intrudes into things and Lord Death had long ago given them complete control over Japan unless things started to slip around here."

"Other forces?" I asked in confusion.

"That's all we ever call them. I don't even know if they have an official name," Hiro told me apologetically.

"So… Then Rukia?" I asked uncertain.

"Part of the deal with us staying out of their way is that they were to give us the list of names for the people in charge," Hiro said sliding a list over to her. "We were given a list of 26 names. And Rukia Kuchiki is a recent update to said list."

"So why is she here in school?" I asked, this whole situation had me confused.

"Probably stationed here…" Hiro shrugged. "Who knows, Lord Death won't tell us anything about these people. Who they are, how they work, nothing. All I know is that this guy right here," he pointed to the name at the top of the list. "Reports once a month to Lord Death." I blinked and sighed. More things to add to my growing list of stuff that I could be mad at my Mama and Papa about. Throwing me into the middle of a seeming turf war. "Anyway, it's my job to make sure you stay out of their way and not cause any problems. At least until we can get someone else from the DWMA over here to do it for me."

"Yay," I muttered sarcastically. A knock at my door had me bolting up to answer. "Hello?" I said practically throwing the door open. Orihime and Tatsuki stood there smiling at me. "Oh… Hi guys," I said taken aback. I certainly hadn't expected them to show up. "No offense, but what are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, Tatsuki wanted to come over and hang out, and I suggested that we come see what you were doing," Orihime said smiling.

"Oh, um," I looked over my shoulder where I could just see Hiro waiting patiently for me. The paper showing names had disappeared. "I have company." I said quietly, hoping my face was just the right amount of apologetic. In reality, I was extremely disappointed that I wouldn't get some time to get to know Tatsuki, she'd make a wonderful meister, but something about Orihime threw me off a little bit.

"Oh, well that's too bad," Orihime's face fell and I felt bad. These people had only known me for two days and they were being really nice.

"Maybe I can get away," I said quickly. "Let me go find out. Would you like to come in?" I asked opening the door wider. Too late did I remember that Blair was sitting at the table in her human form. I panicked and flew back to the table and heaved a sigh of relief to find her laying in Hiro's lap as a cat again. She picked up her head and winked at me as Tatsuki and Orihime entered the room.

"Oh, hello," Hiro said spotting them. "I wasn't aware that Maka had friends coming over. I do apologize." He looked from them to me a few times.

"Sorry," I said. Why on Earth did it feel like I'd failed a test? "This is Tatsuki and Orihime, they go to school with me as well."

"It's a pleasure to meet more of Maka's friends," Hiro said smiling. This time he was sincere, I could tell.

"Tatsuki, Orihime, this is Hiro Higurashi, he worked with my mom and dad for a while," I said. It was a good enough excuse, because he'd obviously heard of my parents, even if I was just hearing about him.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Higurashi," Orihime and Tatsuki said bowing at the same time.

"Please, just call me Hiro," Hiro said laughing. "Mr. Higurashi makes me feel old." I watched as he looked down at his watch. "Ah, Maka I have to go for a while. Duty calls of course, I'll be in town for a few days, be sure to come find me." He never mentioned how I would find him, but I knew.

"Of course, it was nice to finally meet you," I said leading him to the door. We said a final goodbye and while I was standing at the door watching him walk away, Rukia and Ichigo exited his house and started to walk the opposite way, not looking back once. I sighed and closed the door. I walked back into the living room/dining room area to find Orihime and Tatsuki seated at the table waiting patiently for me. Blair was curled up on the couch in the background pretending to be asleep.

"So Maka, where did you learn to run like you did today?" Tatsuki asked once I sat down across from them.

"I was really into running back home," I said shrugging slightly. That of course, was an understatement. "There were also a bunch of staircases in my town so, I got used to running up and down them."

"That's all seriously? No sports or anything?" Tatsuki asked, her face shocked.

"Um no… I was always too busy with school to do sports," I said. That and the fact that the DWMA doesn't have any sports teams. Soul and Black*Star were always playing basketball, but I always opted out, I would rather read than play sports anyway.

"Do you have any interests?" Orihime asked suddenly. I'd thought she had spaced out, apparently I was wrong.

"Well, I like to read," I said, feeling like a dork.

"What about karate?" Tatsuki asked excitedly. I must have made a face because hers fell.

"I'm not very strong, hand-to-hand things weren't really my strong point," I hurried to make things right. "My friends Black*Star and Tsubaki were always the good ones at that." I noticed Orihime frown slightly before she smiled again.

"I like to sew," she supplied. I almost laughed, she was so simple sometimes.

"I've had to sew a lot, fixing holes in mine and Soul's clothes. It's always easier than going out and buying new ones," I said. Which of course is true. The only time I ever had to go replace things was when they were covered in blood.

"Oh most definitely!" She agreed, nodding so hard I'm shocked she didn't hurt herself. Tatsuki placed a hand on her head to stop her.

"Easy girl," she said laughing. "As you can see, she's easily excitable."

"Tell us more about your friends Maka," Orihime said. "You always get this look of sadness in your eyes when you mention any of their names."

"Orihime," Tatsuki hissed.

"No, its fine," I insisted. It was really. I loved talking about them. Somehow I felt like it would keep them in my memory better. "First off is Black*Star, he and I grew up together. He swears he is going to be a ninja one day. Honestly, he reminds me of a blue-haired Naruto." I shook my head. "He's always so loud you can tell when he's 'sneaking up' on you."

"This is the friend with a god complex?" Tatsuki asked. "Because he sounds too much like Keigo for me to even halfway think of liking him."

"Oh no, Black*Star really isn't like Keigo," I said hurrying to defend my friend. "Sure he's an idiot, but he's an extremely loyal friend. This one time some kid pushed me down the stairs and a few days later Black*Star picked him up and threw him down them." That had been our first week at the Academy. We were both placed in the NOT class and neither of us had partners just yet, but even then we'd been determined to be the very best. Tatsuki smirked, and Orihime gasped.

"That sounds like something you would do!" The orange-haired teen laughed.

"Yeah," Tatsuki admitted.

"Then there's Tsubaki," I said continuing on. "She's really shy but very nice. She's a few years older than us, and has always been the sort of mother and peacekeeper in our group." I smiled. Debates between Black*Star and I could get pretty heated, and they did usually end with Tsubaki separating us.

"That sounds almost like our Orihime here," Tatsuki said smiling.

"You are very alike," I said. "Tsubaki always wants to please everyone, but she isn't afraid to speak her mind and put her foot down." She had to, to be partners with Black*Star.

"What about Soul?" Orihime asked. "You've talked about him the most out of all."

"Soul is… my very best friend," I said closing my eyes. You don't resonate souls with someone and not expected to be connected with them afterwards. "He is obsessed with trying to be cool, but he's always there for me if I need someone. And while he hates school and his grades aren't the best, he does try to study hard because he knows that it would make me happy." I opened my eyes and smiled at them. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, he always puts me first, no matter what."

"Wow," Orihime said.

"Sounds like you're in love with him," Tatsuki said teasingly. I felt my whole face heat up.

"No! No," I said waving my hands around as Blair sat up, even from here I could tell she had a smirk on her face. "You've got it all wrong. We're strictly friends, I promise!"

"Mhmmm," Tatsuki hummed not believe me at all. I could feel myself pout and my eyes were drawn up to the clock.

"Oh," I said frowning. "My grandma will be home soon and I haven't done any of the homework that I should have done."

"Okay," Tatsuki said standing. "We'll leave you be, don't want you getting in trouble. See you at school tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow!" Orihime said after I walked them to the door. I watched them walk for a moment before shutting the door and leaning against it with a sigh.

"Does Maka love Soul?" I heard Blair ask from behind me. I jumped and squealed. I had forgotten about her for a moment.

"No, Blair, you should know that," I said frowning at her as I turned around. She was in her human form again.

"Okay," she sang. "Put your boots on, we're going to meet up with that Hiro guy." She said.

"Hey who let you decide where we go?" I asked, moving to put my boots on nevertheless.

"Because he told me he wanted you to come find him tonight, he told you almost the same thing when your friends were here, remember?" Blair asked.

"Well, okay," I said putting my hands in my pockets. I felt an object in one of them, I pulled it out to find a pocket mirror. "Hmmm, I don't remember putting that there." I said frowning. I'd just had this coat on yesterday and I don't remember that being there.

"Oh yeah…" Blair said scratching her head while laughing. "Soul called while you were at school. I was supposed to tell you to call him back but… I kinda forgot. You'll probably have to call him on a cell phone now though."

"Obviously," I said with another sigh. "One that I don't have." I'd just have to call him back later and hope he answered me.

"Sorry Maka," Blair said apologetically. "With all the excitement I forgot." She pulled open the door and looked both ways before leaving the house. I locked the door behind us and activated my Soul Perception, Ichigo had never made it home it would seem, but three other souls were in his house. His sisters and father I assumed. I cast my reach out further and found Hiro's soul waiting outside the school.

"Come on," I said quietly. Just before I let my Soul Perception go, a soul that was like Rukia and Blair's both caught my attention. It was behind us. I turned around expecting a person, but all I caught was a black cat. "Um, Blair, is this the cat you chased off earlier?" I asked frowning. The cat realized I had seen it and took off in the other direction.

"Yup," Blair said watching it leave. "It was kinda strange wasn't it?" She said looking at me.

"Yeah," I said shaking my head slightly. My head hurt from all these strange souls around here and again, I longed for the comfort of Death City. "Let's go meet up with Hiro." I said starting to walk again. This is the way things were now. Like it or not, I was just going to have to get used to them.

 _ ***S***_

 _ **And that's the end of Chapter two! So yay!**_

 _ **As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or comments you can leave a review or pop me a PM.**_

 _ ***Shimmerz***_


	3. When Things Get Tough

_***Separated***_

 _ **Here lies Chapter 3!**_

 _ ***S***_

 _The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."_

 _ **~Martin Luther King Jr.**_

 _ ***S***_

 **Chapter 3: When Things Get Tough**

It's been almost four months since I moved to Japan. Three months since Hiro had come to me and we started exploring around Japan on the weekends. It was fun, working with someone other than Soul, and with someone as powerful as Hiro, but I missed working with a scythe. Hiro, unsurprisingly had turned out to be a Katana, and it had taken me a week to be able to handle him at all, and another week to master using him. Not that it was necessary, there were no Kishin in Japan, for whatever reason. And for the other Asian territories, he had his own meister.

Ever since he had shown up at my house, Ichigo and Rukia stopped talking to me. I shrugged it off, I didn't know them well, and Tatsuki and Orihime easily became my best friends in Japan. True to her word, Tsubaki was keeping an eye on Soul, and giving me updates on him when she could. It was still hard getting ahold of them, but sometimes Lord Death would let them into the Death Room and they'd call me on the personal mirror that I now carried around everywhere. It was this way that I got to meet Death the Kid, Liz, and Patty for the first time.

 _ ***S***_

I was patiently waiting for Tatsuki and Orihime after school one day, they were still in the locker room when I heard voices coming from my pocket. I sighed, I had told Soul and Black*Star when I was in school and had told them, well more like threatened them, to not call me during that time.

"I thought I told you I had school from—," I stopped, in the mirror's surface, was a boy I'd never seen. He had neat black hair with three white stripes on one side of it, and he was dressed smartly. The most striking feature about him however was his eyes, they were golden.

"Oh, sorry," he said looking slightly taken aback at my tone. "I wasn't aware that you were still in school."

"T-that's okay," I said swallowing. "Um… No offense, but who are you?" I tore myself from his eyes and noticed two blonde girls staring over his shoulders and realized immediately who this must be. "Oh! Oh I'm so sorry!" I said quickly before he could respond to my question. "I didn't realize who you were."

"It's no trouble," he smiled slightly. "We haven't been introduced at all, though I hear a lot about you. I'm Death the Kid."

"I'm Patty!" One of the girls over his shoulder said shoving her hand towards the mirror and waving.

"I'm Liz, nice to meet you finally," the other one said smiling.

"Will you two knock it off?" Kid asked them slightly irritated. I laughed and smiled brightly. He straightened his tie and composed himself. "You are Maka Albarn right?"

"Yeah, that's me," I said nodding slightly. I peeked up hearing Orihime's voice coming closer and I shoved the mirror in my bag with a rushed apology.

"Sorry we kept you waiting Maka," Tatsuki said as they exited the locker room.

"It's no problem," I said smiling at them. "I should go straight home today though, I'm expecting a call from my dad." It was a lie of course, but they didn't know that.

"No problem," Orihime said. "We'll see you tomorrow." We parted ways at the corner and I waved. Once they were out of sight I dug in my bag for the mirror, slightly surprised to see Kid waiting patiently.

"Sorry," I apologized. "Normal friends and normal people around here." I explained.

"It's no problem, father doesn't need the mirror anytime soon," he said smiling slightly. I could hear muffled voices behind him and raised my eyebrow.

"Not trying to sound rude again, but… Why did you call? Usually its Soul or Tsubaki," I said, there was a slight pause. "Or my father." I pulled a face and rolled my eyes.

"Well, yes, but," he hesitated, looking to the side where someone else must have been standing. He frowned and sighed slightly. "They elected me to be the one to tell you."

"Tell me what?" I asked. My heart started beating faster. "Is something wrong?" I clutched the mirror tightly and looked up to check where I was. I was almost home, just a few more houses to go.

"Soul decided to take a mission on by himself," Kid said. "Theoretically it should have been an easy mission on its own, a low level Kishin Egg, which he took out with no problem." He paused again, as if he were gaging my reaction.

"So? He took a mission on his own," I said slowly, not understanding how this was important. "I've been working with Hiro for a while."

"It's what happened after the mission," Kid said quietly. "He wanted to sight see, and he stopped at a church." He paused and looked to the side again. "Am I really the one to be doing this?" He asked someone standing to the side. I heard a sigh, which shocked me, I couldn't hear anything over my own breathing and heartbeat. When I looked up again, I was in front of my house, but my hand shook as I held the mirror in one and my key in the other. On the mirror, Kid was moving to the side, an older man with a screw in his head taking his spot. I knew from talking to my friends that this was the new teacher, Professor Stein, my father's first partner.

"Soul is a case of wrong place at the wrong time," he said as I finally got my door open. I swallowed again, my throat felt so dry, as I dashed up the stairs to my room, not even bothering to take my shoes off. "He stumbled upon the Demon Swordsman. Your father and I tried to reach him in time." Blood rushed in my ears… The way he was talking…

"Soul…" I said quietly. "Is he… He?" I tried to take a deep breath as my heart started beating faster.

"Maka?" I faintly heard Blair ask.

"Maka, you need to breath," Stein said from the mirror. "He isn't dead, but he isn't exactly okay right now either. He took a slice to the chest and it would appear that he's been inflicted by something called Black Blood." He watched my face. "He hasn't woken up since it's happened."

"I'm starting to think you weren't the person to do it either," I heard Kid say from out of view. I pushed the mirror into Blair's hands and just sat there. Soul was hurt… and I hadn't been there… If I had been there…

"It's all my fault," I said quietly. I could feel the tears streaming down my face. Blair tsked and shook her head.

"Maka will call you all back," she said placing the mirror face down on my desk. She came over to me and put her arms around me. "Maka it's not your fault. Even Stein said it was a wrong place at the wrong time kind of deal. I sniffled and shook my head.

"He has a hard time fighting without a meister," I cried. "If I hadn't been gone this wouldn't have happened!"

"And it might have happened to where you got hurt too," Blair countered. At times she could be serious and understand what was going on.

"But…" I sniffled yet again and sat up slightly, wiping my eyes. "I'm not there, I won't be there when he wakes up. He's going to think I don't care." It broke my heart knowing that Soul was hurt. Part of my own soul seemed to ache. Then there was the Black Blood business, I didn't even know what that is. But Stein's tone suggested that it wasn't anything good.

 _ ***S***_

That had been a month ago. Soul had woken up two days after I'd received the news. I had called Lord Death every morning and every night to get an update. I was eventually given Stein's home phone number and told to call him or try and speak to Nurse Medusa. I opted for calling Stein whenever I thought he would be home. But since then, I'd drug around, I had refused to work with Hiro and I knew he was getting frustrated. I could also tell that Tatsuki and Orihime were getting worried. I didn't hang out with them outside of school anymore. I no longer supplied updates of what was going on back home. And of course, I had my mirror wherever I went, just in case something went wrong and I was needed.

Blair called it separation anxiety. My grandparents called it being a teenager. I called it being homesick. But maybe all of these things were true. I did wish I could go home, however I hadn't been able to get ahold of my mom since she left me here. And she hadn't called once to supply where she was or to ask how I was adjusting. Sometimes, it felt like she didn't even care. Kid would call every now and then, when he had finally figured out a symmetrical time to call me. I still wasn't sure what that meant, but, oh well.

I sighed and sat up in my bed. It was the weekend and I had finally agreed to hang out with Tatsuki again. Orihime, Uryu, Ichigo, Rukia, and Chad had apparently taken a trip for the long weekend. I knew back home they would be celebrating the DWMA anniversary tonight. I slid my overcoat on and went downstairs to slip my boots on. Just as I was pulling the last one on, a knock sounded at the door.

"Hold on!" I yelled looking around. Blair had disappeared earlier today, and my grandparents were out doing who knew what. I opened the door. "Hi Ta— Hiro?" The Death Scythe stood on my front steps with a grim expression.

"Come on Maka," he said grabbing my hand and pulling me forward. I barely had time to close the door before we were running. At the corner we were joined by an older Indian woman. "Maka, my meister Tamara. Tamara, Maka Albarn."

"Hi," I squeaked out. Tamara nodded at me. "So what's going on? I was expecting a friend to come over."

"Too many things," Hiro said, we turned a corner and Blair shot out of an alley in her human form. She kept pace with us easily and I just wondered even more what was going on. "Right now you only need to know that the Other Powers have decided to confront you and now isn't a good time for that." He paused for a moment, swinging me around to face him. Above them the sky grew darker. "We lost contact with the DWMA earlier this evening."

I felt my heart drop to my feet. That wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. No wonder Soul hadn't contacted me. We started forward again. We were just about to turn another corner when Tamara held her arm out and Hiro ran into it, bringing us all to a crashing halt.

"They found us," she said softly. Hiro ground his teeth and Tamara held her hand out to him. He transformed without being asked and she stepped around the corner. Sharing a glance, Blair and I followed them. In the street were three figures. All three had powerful souls, and one of them I recognized as being Rukia's.

"We just want to talk," the figure in the middle said loudly, but not angrily. He had shaggy silvery-white hair and a teal scarf wrapped around his neck. There was a sword strapped to his back, matter of fact, all three people had swords strapped to their backs.

"We don't have time to talk, we have a problem to deal with," Tamara said just as loud. It was the most I'd heard her talk so far. Blair clutched my arm in her hands. I knew I could count on her magic to get us out of here if needed.

"Unfortunately you don't have a choice," the other unknown person, a woman with twin braids, said taking a step forward.

"I think we do," Tamara said bringing Hiro up in a defensive position. Rukia placed a hand on her own sword and looked at the silver haired boy. He took one look at her and shook his head.

"Your kind aren't supposed to be here, yet you've had one living here for the past four months and she and the man have been gallivanting around Japan for the last three months," he said. "Did you think we wouldn't notice? And now your Lord Death would not answer when we tried to inquire about the situation earlier."

"We lost contact ourselves," Tamara said not relaxing.

"Why don't we go somewhere and talk about this," the boy said. "It's always easier to get things done right away. I promise no harm will come to any of you." His soul spoke true, I could see nothing but sincerity in it. Tamara turned to look at me and I realized she must be waiting for my verdict.

"He speaks the truth," I said. Even among those who could use Soul Perception, there were only a select few who could read souls. Apparently I was one of them and Tamara was not. She lowered Hiro, but he didn't transform back. The dark haired woman took the lead and the silver haired boy walked to the side while Rukia fell behind us. I kept my gaze forward, and felt Blair sink her nails into my arm when the silver haired boy came too close. "Blair, loosen your grip please. I don't feel like having claw marks all down my arm."

"Sorry Maka," Blair said letting go of my arm.

"If you want, I'll carry you," I offered. I could feel Rukia's gaze on my back and her soul pulsed a tiny bit.

"Oh thank you!" The cat cried turning immediately and jumping into my arms. I didn't trust myself to not squeeze her out of nervousness so I placed her on top of my head. Her favorite riding spot anyway. I glanced up at the sky and the first few stars were coming out. I peeked around and realized I recognized this place from the first day I had met Rukia and the others. We were heading to Urahara's shop. I took a deep breath once we got to the store and went in. The woman led us to the same room that I'd been in before and she went to stand in the corner, glowering at us.

I glanced at Tamara, but the Indian woman's face was set in stone, not giving anything away, but her soul was a nervous wreak and that didn't help my own nerves. I knew that my hands were shaking and I wished Soul were here. He could always calm me down when no one else could. I stuck a hand in my pocket and clutched the mirror in there, hoping for a blast of courage.

"Please sit," the silver haired boy said nodding to the cushions placed around the table. Then he too went to stand in the corner, beside the still scowling woman. I glanced at Tamara once more, used to taking orders from the oldest and more experienced person. She nodded and we sat down, I grabbed Blair and sat her in my lap, while Tamara lay Hiro on the table in front of her. The look she gave the others in the room clearly told them to stay away from him. Blair sat up straight in my lap and glared at the people in the corner as only a cat could.

"We're here, now talk," Tamara demanded. No one said anything, and I realized that Rukia hadn't followed us into the room. But a door slid open opposite us and Urahara and a purple haired woman walked in, followed by a man in a straw hat and a horrible pink haori and a younger looking woman with a serious expression that was quickly hidden by her glasses.

"Now now," the man in the hat said. "There's no need to be hasty. Everything can be explained without violence, hopefully." He glanced at the woman with braids who just shrugged and looked away. The man sighed and came to sit down in front of us. I regarded him in wary silence, his soul was different than the others. More powerful, slightly sinister even. He surveyed us for a moment and smiled slightly at me. The door behind us opened and from the corner of my eye I saw Rukia and Ichigo walk in the room before taking seats on either side of Tamara and I. All of these people, excluding Urahara and the purple haired woman, were dressed the same.

"Look, I understand that you feel your tail has been stepped on with Maka's presence in Japan, but we have an issue going on at our headquarters and we really need to figure it out," Tamara said. I looked at her sharply, oh sure, blame the clueless girl. The man looked at her and then sighed.

"Why don't we start with introductions," he said. "I'm Shunsui Kyorakou, Head Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads." He pointed at the woman standing behind him. "This is one of my Lieutenants, Nanao Ise." He then pointed at the silver haired boy. "That is Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of Squad 10 and beside him is Soi Fon, Captain of Squad 2 and leader of the stealth force." He looked at me then at Ichigo and Rukia. "I believe you already know Ichigo and Rukia?" I nodded politely, this man worked directly with Lord Death, I didn't want to piss him off.

"I am Tamara, 3 star Katana Meister," Tamara said drawing herself up with pride. On the table, Hiro's image appeared in his blade. "You can transform back now," Tamara said looking around. There was a swirl of blue light and Hiro was standing behind Tamara.

"I'm the Death Scythe in charge of Asia, Hiro Higurashi," he said bowing his head slightly. All eyes turned to Blair and I.

"I'm one star Scythe Meister Maka Albarn," I said confidently. "This is Blair, she's a cat." I held Blair up for them to see and I saw the looks of confusion pass around.

"Maka, why did you bring your cat?" Ichigo blurted out.

"She didn't bring me," Blair said indignantly. "I go where I want." I rolled my eyes when everyone stared.

"Honestly, those three act like they didn't see you transform on the way here," I muttered scratching her behind the ear. The purple haired woman beside Urahara smiled and shook her head.

"How old are you Maka?" Shunsui asked me, recovering quickly.

"16," I replied looking him in the eye. I was getting twitchy, as were Tamara and Hiro. Across from me everyone blinked in confusion.

"I wasn't aware that the Academy recruited people so young," Shunsui said. I stared blankly at him.

"You must not know much, I've been going to the DWMA since I was 12," I said, I sat up straighter, that's right. I was a representative of the DWMA. I reached up and clutched the pendant at my neck.

"You're right, neither of us know much about the other," Shunsui said smiling slightly. "Death likes to keep it that way, both organizations separate, yet working for the same cause. Perhaps we can change that." Nanao coughed slightly behind him. "Ah, yes, of course. After we find out why you are here. Death did promise no Meisters or Weapons, is that the correct term?" At Hiro's nod he continued. "No meisters or weapons would cross into Japan."

"I've already explained this to Ichigo and Rukia," I snapped. I didn't exactly feel like giving out my life story to strangers. Shunsui looked at the two of them and Ichigo scratched the back of his head.

"Well," he started sheepishly. "Rukia and I figured it was a cover story for why you were here." He laughed nervously. I narrowed my eyes and my hand twitched into a fist.

"Being here wasn't my choice and by all means I would love to be anywhere but here!" I shouted standing up. "My partner is back at home unable to fight without me, and he's injured and I haven't gotten to see him. Yet you think I would lie about being here!" Tamara clutched my hand and Hiro grabbed my shoulders, forcing me back down into my seat. I continued to glare at Ichigo, whose whole face was red.

"Ahem," Shunsui coughed awkwardly. "Yes well… That doesn't explain you and, Hiro was it, running around Japan at night."

"That is partly my fault," Hiro said thoughtfully, from the look on his face, I could tell that he hadn't been aware that we were being observed. To be honest however, neither had I, and I was the one with Soul Perception. "I was curious about what kinds of evil souls you took care of and wanted to see for myself that no Kishin Eggs were appearing here."

"And the other part?" Soi Fon demanded.

"Back home in Death City there are lots of stairs to keep fit, matter of fact in order to get to school you have to climb this giant staircase daily," I said smiling slightly. "Obviously I don't have that here, and I've never worked with a weapon that wasn't a scythe and that wasn't Soul." I frowned as my heart tugged at the mention of my weapon. "It was a valuable learning experience that I wasn't passing up." I sat back and crossed my arms. I was startled by Shunsui laughing.

"Sorry," He said after a moment. "You just reminded me of Nanao-chan." The woman behind him blushed slightly and narrowed her eyes at him. I watched as he composed himself and looked at the four of us with a serious expression. "That settles the matter of why she's here and why she was doing what she was doing, but why hasn't Death contacted us back. We've been trying to reach him for most of the evening." Tamara and Hiro exchanged worried glances and I realized the situation must be even more dire then they had led on.

"We… we don't know," Hiro said looking down. His soul felt heavy with disappointment. "We lost contact with the main headquarters, or the DWMA, earlier this evening. Which is surprising. The anniversary of the DWMA's founding was today. Someone should have answered. Lord Death or Spirit at least, one of them is always by a mirror to answer. Just in case." I almost scoffed when he mentioned my father, but what he said was true. Papa was a womanizer, but he did take his job as Lord Death's personal Death Scythe seriously.

"Hmmm," Shunsui hummed. "Kisuke," he said looking over at Urahara, how soon can you get a Senkaimon to Death City open?" He asked. I watched the blonde man rub his beard.

"Less than an hour if one of them helps," He said nodding at us.

"Start, start now," Shunsui said. I fidgeted as Hiro and Tamara both got up to help Urahara do whatever it was he was about to do. Toshiro and Soi Fon followed them out of the room. After a few moments, Shunsui and Nanao followed them, leaving Blair and I with Ichigo, Rukia, and the purple haired woman. The silence was deafening.

"I'm sorry," Ichigo said suddenly. I looked up at him, having been staring at my hands. "I realize how hard this must be for you now. Of course the age thing isn't that bad." He smirked.

"Black*Star and I started at the DWMA at the same time," I said. "I started because I knew I wanted to be an amazing Scythe Meister like my mom. Black*Star was made to start by Sid, to get rid of all his leftover energy." I realized it was almost random what I just said, but it was just there and had to be spoken. "Kids of all ages come to the DWMA, each for their own reason. Some are weapons and have to come at least until they can control their transformations enough to not hurt anyone. Others are like me, going because their parents went. Everyone has their reasons." I saw Rukia nod out of the corner of my eye.

"Sounds about right," she said. I looked up at the purple haired woman, who had been mostly silent this whole time. She was studying Blair, who was curled up on the table in front of me. She looked asleep, but I wasn't fooled, she was hardly ever asleep when something was going down. The woman looked up to see me looking at her.

"Ah, sorry, my name is Yoruichi," she said. "How did you come by a cat like her?" She asked.

"Um…" I blushed as Blair sat up and laughed. "Well, it's kind of a long story that ended in endless humiliation and failure."

"She and Soul thought I was a witch," Blair said. "They came to take my soul. How many times did you fail Maka?" She asked innocently, but I saw her whiskers twitching.

"Too many you stupid cat," I muttered. "99 souls confiscated… It took me three years to do that, and all gone in one night." I slumped forward and banged my head on the table. "And now it'll take even longer to turn Soul into a Death Scythe."

"About that," Ichigo inserted. "How can Hiro be a Death Scythe if he isn't a scythe?"

"Oh," I said. "Well any weapon can become a Death Scythe. It's the goal of most EAT class meister and weapon pairings. It's the only way to become a three star meister. Matter of fact, the only Death Scythe that's an actual scythe is my father."

"How does one become a Death Scythe?" Rukia asked.

"You have to collect 99 Kishin Egg souls, and one witch's soul," I said. "Which is what led to Soul and I meeting Blair."

"Kishin Eggs?" Yoruichi asked.

"Human souls who have strayed from the path of good," I said with a sigh. It felt like I was back in the NOT class with Sid teaching. "A human who devours pure souls will eventually become a Kishin Egg, and if let go it will eventually become a full Kishin, which is why the DWMA was founded in the first place."

"So you fight evil souls," Rukia said eventually.

"Mhm," I nodded, my eyes trained on Blair, who was staring at me.

"That's basically what we do, Soul Reapers," Ichigo said. "Except the souls we fight are already dead and aren't always necessarily evil." He finished as the door slid open and Hiro stuck his head in.

"Come on Maka," he said. "Let's go find out what's going on." I scrambled to my feet, even though I had more questions for Ichigo and Rukia about what Soul Reapers were exactly, and followed him as quickly as I could. Behind me I heard a soft pop and then a loud exclamation of surprise from Ichigo signaling that Blair had transformed into her human form.

"Maka wait for me!" She called. I paused just long enough for her to catch up before starting after Hiro again. Behind us I could hear Yoruichi laughing as they followed Blair and me. I caught Hiro heading down a stair case, so I followed him into the biggest room I have ever seen under a store. It actually reminded me of the Death Room. Everyone was gathered in front of two huge white pillars. _'This was it,'_ I thought. _'I'm going home. I'm going to see Soul and the others.'_

"Alright, I've been instructed to give the bare minimum explanation in order to save some time," Urahara said swinging his cane around. He tapped the pillar he was standing beside and a black void opened up between the two. "This is a Senkaimon equipped with a spirit particle converter. If we had more time I would go into depth on the importance of it, but we do not have time. You have four minutes to reach the other side. Run fast and don't touch the sides."

"Do I even want to know what happens if we don't make it out in four minutes?" I heard Blair ask quietly behind me. She received a few curious looks from those who had not been able to see her transform.

"Hitsugaya, Ichigo, and Rukia will be going along with you," Shunsui said. "It's merely a precaution. If nothing is wrong then they can present our monthly report in person. If something is wrong they are to assist in any way possible." The three mentioned nodded and grouped together in front of the void. I turned to see Blair frowning, she hated running.

"You can use your pumpkin," I suggested. "Like you did during our fight."

"Good idea Maka!" She said beaming at me. She closed her eyes and held her hands out in front of her. "Pum Pum Pumkin!" With a pop, her flying pumpkin appeared in front of her. This drew even more startled looks from those who were not associated with Blair.

"Alright everyone ready?" Urahara asked. I straightened my coat and set my face in determination. Beside me, Hiro transformed, landing in Tamara's waiting hand. "Good luck." Toshiro led the way into the senkai-thingy and then we were running.

 _ ***S***_

 _ **Whoo, I hit a good writing streak with this. Hope you guys are still enjoying this story as much as I am.**_

 _ **As always, any questions, concerns, or comments can be left in a review or you can pop me a PM.**_

 _ **Shimmerz**_


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